SANTA ANA – An Orange County Superior Court judge has given preliminary approval to a new gang injunction in Santa Ana, adding more than a dozen residents to an “enforcement list” targeting suspected gang members, but isn’t yet adding those who are fighting their inclusion.

Judge Franz E. Miller on Friday approved the preliminary injunction against the Townsend Street gang, allowing authorities to restrict the actions of suspected gang members in a less than a half-square-mile portion of the community that’s been described as crime-blighted.

Prosecutors, who, with the help of police, identified numerous shootings and examples of gang violence in the Townsend Street area over the past several years, applauded the decision. Among the crimes outlined in the injunction were two murders, two attempted murders, three assaults and 22 incidents of “gun or dangerous weapon” possession.

“The families and residents in this neighborhood have been terrorized and victimized by this gang's propensity for violence,” District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement. “Children have been caught in the crossfire of this gang and their rivals, including an innocent 15-year-old girl who was shot while holding her baby brother ... This community deserves to live free from fear, and we will to use every available legal tool to help them live in peace.”

Efforts to implement the injunction have drawn fire from some residents and community groups, who argue that the injunction is too broad, that it would criminalize youth, that its funding could be better used for other efforts, and that they weren’t given enough warning it was being put into motion.

Members of Chicanos Unidos spoke out against the injunction at a court hearing last week, describing it as a violation of the residents’ civil rights that could harm the “fragile relationship” between police and the community. Attorneys for some of those named in the injunction also argued that authorities have other tools to fight gang violence, saying an injunction is like “a sledgehammer being used against an ant.”

Gang injunctions are civil orders restricting the actions of individuals police have identified as criminal street gang members in designated “safety zones,” where increases in crime and gang activity have occurred. Individuals targeted by the injunctions are barred from activities like associating with other identified gang members, drug sales, public consumption of alcohol, wearing gang clothes or showing gang signs. Failing to abide by the terms can lead to a misdemeanor charge of violating a court order.

Authorities initially targeted 25 people, including six juveniles, in a proposed “enforcement list” filed with the injunction.

So far, 10 people have come forward to challenge the allegations that they are involved in gang activity. Friday’s ruling did not add those 10 to the injunction, with the judge allowing them time to challenge their inclusion, said Douglas Potratz, an attorney who is representing several of the defendants.

“We’re pleased the judge recognized the due process rights of the 10 individuals,” said Bardis Vakili, an attorney with the ACLU.

Gang activity has increased in Santa Ana this year, police say, even as overall violent crime has dropped. There were seven gang-related homicides in the first half of the year — two more than in all of 2013 — as well as an uptick in shootings.

Police have responded by increasing the number of hours worked by gang officers and are carrying out sweeps in areas known for gang activity. Santa Ana police Chief Carlos Rojas has indicated that the department is also focusing on community programs aimed at keeping youngsters out of the gang life.

Some Santa Ana residents have been raising concerns about the potential for a new injunction in the Townsend area at community and council meetings since late 2013.

Santa Ana has been a pioneer in the use of gang injunctions, implementing the first one in the country in 2006 against the Santa Nita gang. Since that time, 11 more injunctions have been approved countywide. The Townsend Street injunction is the second in Santa Ana.

However, opposition to gang injunctions has grown in recent years, with civil liberties groups and other opponents winning a victory in 2013 when a federal appeals court found that an injunction in Orange was too broad and didn’t give individuals enough opportunity to challenge the claim that they were gang members.

Authorities are expected to request a permanent injunction for the Townsend Street area.

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